Ice cream, beer and the best fitness results

Last weekend we held an end-of-season bike ride followed by a BBQ at Okanagan Peak Performance Inc. At the BBQ there were burgers, ice cream and beer. This is typically the kinds of foods that fitness coaches tell their clients to avoid eating. And yet there we were serving it up to our clients. Was this some kind of trick? Do we not care about our clients results? Do we not believe these to be unhealthy foods? Why would we do such a thing?

When you’re offered beer or ice cream in a gym.

Well for a number of reasons. And the first being is that these are foods and drinks associated with fun times. And we want our clients to be able to relax and have some fun from time to time. The goal is never to go cold turkey with any of the indulgences we may enjoy. If someone loves chocolate we would never say ‘you can’t eat chocolate again’ or worse ‘you’re a bad person if you do eat chocolate’.

Instead the message should be to recognize where does chocolate fit into a healthy living plan? Maybe I won’t eat it daily but instead will look to reduce my consumption and set it aside for special times. For example, maybe I’ll watch a fun show on the weekend and have some chocolate while I do. We need to find the time and place for burgers, beers and ice cream.

The other thing to remember is that these are low nutrition foods. It never ceases to amaze me to look at any ‘health or whole foods’ store flyer. You will always be to find offerings such as tofu burgers, soy ice cream and vegan cookies. Adding a trendy nutritional label doesn’t make these higher in nutritional value. Burgers, ice cream and cookies are still low nutrition foods and should only be enjoyed infrequently. Just because we see them in a health food flyer doesn’t mean we get a free pass to eat more of them and more frequently.

And this leads to the next point that when you do indulge in a treat go for the good stuff. Drink a quality brew from Tree Brewing. Have a treat from Parlour ice cream. Both of these are using top quality local ingredients and so you know they are fresher and don’t have to be packed to last for travel.

Ultimately we train because it is good for our health. We’re better at the sports we play. We suffer fewer injuries. We look better getting out of the shower. And we’re in a better mood when we have time for our loved ones. Ultimately fitness makes you happy.

When you gather with other fitness people you are bringing together a collection of goal-oriented, positive and interesting people. This experience is only enhanced by adding some fun food and drink to the mix.

Stay tuned for more Okanagan Peak Performance Inc gatherings to connect with the people you train alongside daily. They come from a wide variety of backgrounds, have achieved some pretty cool accomplishments and have interesting stories. A burger, some ice cream and a beer just makes it a little more memorable.